Dissatisfaction with body weight and nutritional status among adolescents: population-based study in the city of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to investigate nutritional status and estimate the prevalence of weight dissatisfaction among adolescents 10 to 19 years. Population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in two-stage in Campinas, Brazil. Nutritional status was classified based on percentiles of body mass index for age recommended by the World Health Organization. Weight dissatisfaction was determined by desire to gain or lose weight. Prevalence rates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for nutritional status and weight (dis)satisfaction. The Rao-Scale chi-squared test was used for the determination of associations with sociodemographic variables. 822 adolescents were analyzed with mean age of 14.1 years. 64.7% of the boys and 75.4% of the girls were classified as normal weight, whereas 30.5% and 22.2% with excess weight, respectively. Among the boys dissatisfied with their weight, 34.5% were normal weight, 45.3% were classified as overweight and 77.1% with obesity. Whereas the girls dissatisfied with their weight, 52.0% were classified as normal weight, 63.6% as overweight and 75.2% with obesity. The prevalence of excess weight was high, especially among the boys and younger adolescents (10-14 years). Weight dissatisfaction was more prevalent among the girls and older adolescents (15-19 years).